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My kid doesn’t like cheese. While this is in some ways a relief — I was dreading what seems to be the inevitable toddler mac-and-cheese habit, mostly because I would share it and lack his metabolism — it is in other ways disconcerting, as in, could this really be our child? Someone who doesn’t like cheese or sleeping late?

But lo and behold, recently we were at the park and a kid was eating goldfish crackers and shared some with Jacob, who proceeded to go nuts for them. We decided not to tell him there was (a nominal amount of) cheese in there, in the same way that we don’t tell him what’s schmeared on his beloved whole wheat bagel or stuffed in those blintzes he enjoys. I mean, he’s going to eventually think we’re killjoys either way, no need to rush his disdain.

And look, I know I’ve made Pop-Tarts. And Oreos. Graham crackers, marshmallows and even the wafers that you use to make icebox cakes. I know I do crazy things and then I have the nerve to call them a good time. But I understood at the very pit of my gut that I should not indulge the urge to make goldfish crackers at home, that ordering a cookie cutter for the sole purpose of satisfying this curiosity was taking things one step too far and that someone needed to stop me.

But nobody did. Had they, however, I had my rationale all prepared anyway, which was that I wasn’t going off the deep end, I had already been there as a little over a year ago, I discovered cheese straws and proceeded to have my mind blown by their uncanny flavor resemblance to Cheez-Its and other so-called cheese crackers. Basically, I already knew how to make them, it was just a matter of when. Turns out it only took one dreary day, two pudgy forearms and a very loud block of orange cheddar to make it happen.

I swapped most (but not all, because I copped out) of the all-purpose flour in the original recipe for whole wheat flour, suspecting that we wouldn’t miss a thing and indeed, we did not. Should you make these with a full amount whole wheat flour (or any other mix of flours), please let us know how it went in the comments as I’m sure many will be curious.

I’d intended to make the eyes with a wooden skewer but couldn’t find one and used a drill bit instead (hi, honey!). Go ahead and press right through the cracker with the point; the “docking” will keep the cracker from puffing too much. I used the end of a grapefruit knife (the only thing I could think of that ended in a curve) to make the mouth.

I spied onion powder on the ingredient list of the original crackers and included it because onions and cheddar are a fantastic combination. You’ll barely taste it, so if you wish get more of a hint of onion, use 1/4 teaspoon instead.

Finally, the higher amount will give you a familiar level of saltiness, i.e. almost as salty as the original cracker. Understandably, many will probably prefer the smaller amount.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients in a food processor, running the machine until the dough forms a ball, about two minutes.

If the dough feels warm or worrisome-ly soft, wrap it in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge for 30 to 45 minutes. This also makes it easier to transfer shapes once they are rolled out.

On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out 1/8-inch thick. Form shapes with a cookie cutter, dipping it in flour from time to time to ensure a clean cut. Gently transfer crackers to an ungreased (though mine were parchment-lined, because they are in despicable shape) cookie sheet with a 1/2 inch between them. Bake the crackers on the middle rack for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are barely browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and set the cookie sheet on a rack to cool.

The link for the cookie cutter isn’t working for me and since I can’t get goldfish here in Berlin, yet have recently found a source of Cheddar, I am ready to start baking and need this cutter! Thanks for creating this recipe.

I wanted to tell you not to worry that the little guy doesn’t like cheese–I was the same way as a kid (and born in Wisconsin–it was almost sacreligious!) but have come somewhat around as an adult. I finally tried goat cheese on my honeymoon a few months ago and it was actually pretty good. Can’t wait to try these crackers!

These goldfish crackers are fantastic, and perfect for little mouths and little hands (as well as grown up mouths and hands too). I recently made whole grain animal crackers and those were a HUGE hit so I have no doubt that any one of any age would love these too! I really want that cookie cutter, I will check back when the link is fixed.

How funny, my daughter Bella (3) hates cheese. She does like goldfish, however. I will definitely be making these. They are adorable and I’d love to give the kids a more natural “goldfish” cracker. Thank you!

I will have to make these for my friends. I don’t tend to eat either cheese crackers (overdosing on cheezits growing up) or things shaped like animals, but I know a number of friends who would go completely gonzo over these!

I am going to try these right now, but I don’t have a tiny fish cutter so instead I’m just going to make cheese crackers with my smallest size biscuit cutter (about 1″). My son is a cracker fiend and if I could make them homemade it would be so much fun!

I’m so excited about this! I eat goldfish crackers all the time because I love them so much, but I hate that they are so processed. In fact, they are one of the few processed foods I will actually eat! I’m going to try this recipe soon. (Although I’ll probably just roll them out and cut them with the pizza cutter into small triangles to avoid cutting out a million tiny fish!)

i love your site. a lot. i get a little giddy when it pops up in my reader. so i am compelled to let you know that some of your links are jacked! it looks like it’s adding the url for these crackers and quotation marks and some other junk to the url the link is supposed to go to. i would hate for anyone to miss out on butter cake.

Genius! And funny. I love this idea. I have thought of making these, but hadn’t gone so far as to actually figure it out. Another site I love, Home-Ec 101, had a recipe for Cheese-Its (that’s probably spelled wrong) and I’ve always wanted to make them as well. My son loves Goldfish, but I hate all the junk in them. And we have a Play-Doh cutter that will work, I think.

oh dear. when saw the title of this post and the picture come up on my blog reader i *might* have rolled my eyes a bit. i should have just stopped there, stopped procrastinating, and stepped away from the computer. but instead i clicked over, got sucked into your post, and now i too want very badly to make goldfish crackers. shoot.

I have done the earlier cheese straw recipe so many times since you posted it, but haven’t had the ambition to try it with cookie cutters – now Whole Wheat flour? Sold!
Hah, about 12 years ago I wrote Pepperidge Farm for a Business Writing class stating it was false advertising to have the fish smiling on the package but not on the actual crackers. Within that year the fish crackers had smiles and I bragged about my amazing powers of persuasion. My college friends still tease me about it.

How clever! I’m curious as to how dense these little crackers are? Do you get the same light “crunch factor” as with the original? Asking because I’ve been on the hunt for a great whole wheat cracker recipe, and keep failing miserably. :( They keep coming out too dense…

You’re absolutely crazy and I say that with a tremendous amount of respect, but you’re crazy. I mean I was like that’s not too insane until I got to the bit about making the eyes and smile. You should know that your craziness is why I keep coming back, making your recipes and dedicating weekend afternoons to attempting your personal brand of crazy.

Wow the cookie cutter cost almost as much as the shipping…but those cutters (all the fishies) are irresistible! Did you buy anything else besides the 1 fish cookie cutter? These crackers look FABULOUS!

Thank You Thank You (and yes,I intend to be yelling about that, one I need to yell to be heard over my children and two I really am that happy). Ever since I eliminated processed food from our diet my children occasionally pine for gold fish crackers. Diving head first into the bowl when offered them anywhere. I will up the ante on the whole grains and report back.

This is greatness!!! I had tried the recipe that so many people have raved about from Country Living and was so disappointed! (My goldfish lovers didn’t even want to entertain the idea of calling them goldfish.) I’m am ordering the little cookie cutter right now! Thanks!

Deb, you are BRILLIANT. Truly. As the mother of a toddler who knew how to say “cheese” before he said “mommy”, and the wife of a man who receives boxes of Cheez-its for every giftable holiday, I thank you. I’d whip some up tonight if I wasn’t already set to make your apple-cheddar scones and a huge pan of baked mac & cheese over the weekend.

@Kawa concerning food processors. I’ve made similar “Cheeze-it” like crackers before in a stand mixer with great success, but the butter has to be room temperature and the dough then definitely has to be refrigerated. =)

They’re probably good for a week at room temperature. We’ll keep ours longer because tomorrow will be a week and they’re still fine (I go by the taste/smell test before I chuck things) but I’m sure more sane folks would tell you a week.

To give you hope, my daughter (still one of the pickiest children I know…so picky she doesn’t even eat “kid” food) despised cheese as a toddler. She is now seven and her favorite part of going through any kind of grocery store involves cheese samples. And while she enjoys cheddar (the sharper the better) and mozzarella and all the normal “kid” cheeses, her real favorites are manchego, gruyere, aged gouda, etc.

My son seems to be following in her footsteps (at least as far as cheese goes…the child gobbles up all sorts of other food she would never touch), but I’m holding out hope!

Both of my kids will be thrilled when I try out this recipe regardless of their finickiness.

I have one of those children. The kind who inexplicably hate grilled cheese sandwiches “because I don’t like cheese” but adores quesadillas. Bizarre. Yes, he loves these crackers too (and mack and cheese, alas) even with the cheese. Just go with it and don’t try to predict because they will pick the opposite just to spite you :-)

I’m obsessed with this!! My little guy is just starting on solids, and though I’m totally mourning the fact that he’s getting too big too fast, it’s stuff like this that make it a little less painful. Can’t wait to make these! Thanks!

I keep thinking I’m perfectly content with the store bought version of a food, then you go and make a homemade version and then the store bought is no longer good enough. Now I need to embark on my quest to make Caramel DeLite Girl Scout cookies because they don’t taste as good as I remembered.

So cute! I’m not a huge cheddar cheese cracker person, so I wonder if these would work with a different kind of cheese? Or do you think you really need a cheese with a strong flavor such as cheddar to be able to taste it? My fiance loves cheese and I bet he’d love these. Any recommendations for those of us who don’t want to spend money on a fish-shaped cookie cutter? Would a more Cheez-Its-y shape still work?

THANK YOU for this recipe. I no longer buy the Goldfish Crackers, because of the ingredients and my kiddos food allergies. And now get the Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies. But I have just come to realize (like two days ago) that table salt contains dextrose, which may be made from corn, so now I need to remove table salt from our diet. Sigh. So I will give your recipe a try, and may omit the onion powder as well, since it food allergens as well. No worries on the cheese liking or not liking with Jacob, kids will like various foods in their own timing. Quite evident seeing it with my own kids. Now, I’ll have to go get that fish cookie cutter. So cute.

My hubby gave our 14month old goldfish for the first time last week and I was aghast that the “Natural colors” turned her tongue green! (Note giving them to her wasn’t my decision…)
We will be making these in the future. :-)

@eb- Orange cheese is most definitely a food item. I know, because in Paris I was marvelling at all the cheese in a shop like a typical American tourist, and when I asked the man behind the counter why one was orange, he replied, terse and indignant, “It’s aged.” I was taken aback a bit, as that’s not the great explanation my curiosity had craved, but in any case it justified orange cheese for me once and for all. (Orange “processed cheese product” might be a different matter, but I won’t judge.)

And Deb, my little guy also just discovered the deliciousness of goldfish crackers, but don’t tell him about these, because I don’t plan on making them anytime soon. Yes, you are crazy, but I’m still awed by your homemade snacks. I’m content to settle for the “whole grain” store-bought version and call it good.

My daughter is going to love these. She hasn’t had anything ‘processed’ short of graham crackers and saltines, and the random pre-made Pacific roasted red-pepper and tomato soup, so it will be such a treat! And, if they taste anything like your amazing cheese straws, I am going to love this.

You are funny. I like reading about your baking escapades. Now it just makes easier for the rest of us to order cookie cutters in random animal shapes…”but smitten kitchen did it, and now I just HAVE to!”

See, I’ve just been using a version of the cheese-straw type dough but cutting them in rough squares, or with cookie cutters. But I do think the little fishies are beguiling and I grew up with them. The 7-year-old inside me just got REALLY excited and said, can we make those PLEASE?! Oh yes. We can.

Butter — Fixed now. I was thinking 2 tablespoons for the gram weight, not 2 ounces. I should get more sleep and stuff. :)

Other cheeses — For a clean swap, stick with a semi-hard (I think that’s the category cheddar is in) such as a Swiss or the like. Feta is wet, blue cheese is more oily, they’re going to need other adjustments, likely more flour, to keep them from spreading. It’s worth playing with if you really like those cheeses, but I can’t give you the adjustments without working it out the kitchen.

You’re a girl after my own heart in every way! I must have that cookie cutter! I know it’s the improper place for it, but your email I copied from ‘contact’ doesn’t paste as a proper email address. Sorry, I don’t know how else to let you know.

These would be great simply cut into squares too. Wish I’d thought of making my own crackers way back when! My kids favorite lunch was what I called “smorgie plate” I’d pile a dinner plate with wheat thins or whole grain bread sliced thin and cut to the size of wheat thins, mild cheddar, sliced chicken, ham or roast beef all cut to cracker size. I’d cut up lettus or cabbage, carrots, cukes, celery, cherry tomatos, zucchini (and buttermild dressing as a dip) and seasonal fruits for the plate also. They just loved the little bite size foods and ate everything..no complaints. The sandwiches they’d build from the plate were more than half the fun and they learned to like fresh healthy lunches from it too.

Look at their adorable little goldfish faces!! So cute! And I love that you’re tricking your little guy into eating cheese via schmear and blintzes and homemade goldfish crackers! Much more original than hiding pureed broccoli in pasta sauce.

Brilliant! I love to munch on crackers (cheeze-its, graham crackers) but these look like a healthier alternative, plus really yummy and fun to make. And the ingredients are things I actually have. Perfect!

ahhh I can’t believe even goldfish can be homemade! I love this. I made homemade graham crackers and fig newtons a month or so ago. Maybe this will be next on my list of homemade versions of childhood snacks.

Oh wow color me convinced. I just went away and made a batch of these because it all seemed so simple — just mix and go? Really?

Yes really. I don’t have a food processor (nor a pastry cutter, which I would highly recommend if you go this route,) but I just rubbed the cheese (grated fine) and butter into the flour and such just as you would do a quick bread. Took a while, but it was nice in it’s way. Like playing with sand, then mud, then clay.

I used a little star cutter I have to make happy shapes, just ate one off the cooling rack and DAMN girl. There are exactly like the goldfish crackers. Exactly. Wow. I used all whole wheat flour, white cheddar, but they are still light and dissolve in a pleasant wonderful way. Love these. Thank you for sharing this recipe!

Oh also: I used powdered mustard instead of onion powder, because I had it, and because another cracker recipe I have calls for powdered mustard in the cheese variation. So there you go. Bastardized and acoustic, this recipe is still amazing.

My goodness! You are a brilliant woman! I have everyone hooked on cheese straws. People ask for them. I would love to throw a party with these as an appy. Did I mention how brilliant you are…. Gold fish crackers…… seriously….

I know this is a silly question, but I don’t have a food processor and I’m dying to make these. Is there a way to use a blender or hand mixer to make this dough and still have the dough turn out properly?

These look so fun! I’m wondering if my girls would actually eat them the way they (unfortunately) go to town on the processed ones. . .or if all of that buttery, cheesy goodness would be going right into Mama’s mouth instead. Either way, they look delicious.

Which actually brings me to the reason I’m commenting. . .I’ve been noticing with some of your recipes lately that you don’t actually report on whether it was GOOD or not. Oh, I’m sure they’re all reasonably good, because you’re always very honest about a recipe that was a total flop. But when you write a whole post about a recipe but never include anything like “They turned out great!” or “We loved them!” or even “Not the best I’ve ever had, but good enough!” I really miss it. I can find thousands and thousands of recipes for any food in the world on the internet. But I come to your site again and again because I trust your taste. For the five years that I’ve been reading you, and the many many recipes from here that I’ve used, I can’t think of a single time that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed a recipe that you’ve recommended highly. But there’s the problem: it seems like lately, you’re not so much recommending recipes; not really reviewing them. You’re just putting the recipe out there, giving the backstory, how/why you came up with it, etc. And the recipes still look fabulous, I’m still regularly bookmarking many of them. But I miss the review part! Tell us what you thought about how it tasted!

Since PF discontinued my favorite flavor in the world (the Garden Cheddar one), I have made it my DUTY to make these. I’ll have to see if I can replicate the recipe to some degree. I still have one bag left so I guess it’s time to look at the ingredients. ;)

And I never saw the cookie cutter!! I need to make these PROPERLY now! :D

One of my absolute favourite cracker/snacks/jen food is the Amy’s cheddar bunnies, which are similar to the goldfish crackers. I think I will from now on I will be making these and no longer pay an arm and a leg for my favourite organic bunny cheese crackers.

Plus if they’re homemade they’re are much fancier to drink with wine right? Even though they’re shaped like animals?

I’ve thought about making a goldfish cracker like this, and am glad to see that it turned out so well for you. I feel kind of self-conscious admitting this though, having read the comments, but for time’s sake, w/2 little boys, I haven’t tried to make my own, and instead feed them the regular processed goldfish and am scratching my head as to why there’s such a hatred of them. I think there are much worse “processed” foods out there, and yes, if you’re feeding your kid goldfish as a staple at every meal, maybe you should be concerned, but as a snack in between meals of homemade yogurt, jam, and granola and whole wheat PB&J sandwiches and fresh fruit, can they be that bad?

But I know that’s not the point of the recipe – I am sure they taste amazing, and may try them sometime for a “fun” project to bake with my 3 year old. I do wish they would come out with a rotary cutter with miniature attachments that are the actual size of goldfish crackers and the like . . .

Sooner or later your child will work out that he has been deceived by you in many ways, so a little cheese is neither here nor there.
My kids were convinced that they all hated tomatoes and never, ever ate them. So I just never mentioned what spaghetti bolognaise sauce, lasagne and tomato ketchup have in them …

These look great. I am impressed that you went to the length of making your own goldfish crackers. I do have a question. Is it possible to create the eyes and mouth before the goldfish bake? Or maybe that’s what you did and I misunderstood? Thank you!

Totally inspirational. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked the other way while my two preschool aged children downed cupfuls of goldfish, with all that processed goodness. Thank you for giving me another option (as they didn’t really love the “how about popcorn instead, boys?!” option).

Who knew the only snack that smiles back grins even bigger when homemade? Great job! Can’t wait to try it out. Pairing these with homemade peanut butter would add a fun twist that the young and young-at-heart can appreciate.

This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! I’m absolutely going to make these…for me. No kids involved! Goes along with my current kick of recreating favorite childhood snacks — I made homemade Oreos a couple weeks ago and am working on a homemade Samoa (the Girl Scout cookie) recipe now. Such a sophisticated palette…

so happy for this recipe. We moved to Ireland and they don’t sell theses here except fora store in Dublin and SOMETIMES as a special treat I fork out $6 for the regular size small bag they sell back home. Last week, we were in Dublin and I bought them and my daughter proceeded to spill the entire $6 bag on the streets of Dublin:(

So have you been nominated for mom of the year yet? What a great thing to do for you child. He will want to eat the processed stuff but you can feed him this knowing what all the ingredients are. I think this is great and I think it is something my mom would have done. I might try this recipe for my husband. Love the cookie cutter!

Sometimes I just stop by here because I love what and how you post. Mind you I have no intentions of ever baking my own goldfish crackers, howeve,r the fact that you did, bravo. My admiration for your culinary skills continues to grow, you are my inspiration. Thanks again!

Regarding 100% whole grain flour: I’ve found that a combination of whole wheat and oat flours makes a perfect substitution for AP… in equal parts for softer things [cookies /cakes /muffins] and 2/3 wheat- 1/3 oat (or 3/4-1/4) for things that need more gluten [breads and crackers]. I’ll try my method with this recipe over the weekend and report back.

White whole wheat will make them _look_ less wheat-y, but it does has all the fiber and protein without the tannins of red wheat. I was using the Trader Joe’s brand for a while, but it’s a much coarser mill than King Arthur’s so I switched back.

[An added bonus of using oat flour in softer baked goods is that you can mix thoroughly without worrying about overworking the batter]

Brilliant. Yes, they seem like a commitment, but a good one with good food. My kids didn’t like cheese either and then one day the son picked up a slice of cheddar and the daughter, goat cheese and fig jam (son likes that too). Cheese, good for a little protein that’s not peanut butter. Thanks for sharing

Since I don’t have a toddler I didn’t have to make these in the fish shape or “borrow” anyone’s drill bit. I made them into small circles with a biscuit cutter, no eyes, no mouth! guess what, they are still yummy and nice for grown up parties!
I used all white whole wheat which I think is the perfect thing.

Without a food processor — I am stumped. Theoretically, you could grate the cheese very finely and beat it with the butter (which would then need to be softened) and add the flour, like a cookie dough (you’ll want to be careful not to incorporate much air, and to chill the dough) but without giving it a spin, I cannot say if this will work, if the cheese will become mixed in enough. If you try it without, I’d love it if you could report back here with how you pulled it off.

Update! Maggie in comment #143 made it without a FP successfully and includes tips. Thanks, Maggie!

Kara — These are fantastic. I hear your concern but promise I’m only putting recipes up here these days that I adore, that I think are perfect.

One more thing — I’m reading so many comments that suggest that I’m aghast by processed foods or don’t let my kid near them and by parents who say they feel bad about buying the packaged stuff and I just. Sigh. I hope everyone knows that it could not be further from my intentions or even my views. I see these crackers as a fun project for a rainy day or a delicious thing you to make because you are nostalgic for the little fish you used to eat. Also, they go great with red wine. So there’s that, too.

My eldest so vehemently believed that she despised cheese, that we called macaroni and cheese “macmac.” It became such a habit that we still call it that (whether it be homemade, gourmet take-out, or from a box) three more kids and over a decade later.

I adore your precious-looking little fishies and your even-precious-er Jacob and thank you for sharing both.

I just made these! I ate 1/3 of them by myself in 5 minutes. :( I’ve been living in goldfishless Germany for two years and I couldn’t help it. I used all sizes of cookie cutters and they all worked. I’m going to use all whole wheat next time (you really can’t tell that there’s whole wheat flour in these). I even sprinkled a little salt on them to make them more like the real thing. aThanks so much!

Wow, I’m totally making these this weekend, thank you! And oh my goodness, my homemade mac’n’cheese consumption has been so over the top these past 12 months (since babe starting wolfing down solid food). It goes so well with everything (especially your baked chicken meatballs + brocolli!). Child loves it. I now always have a frozen stash of cheese sauce ice-cubes. I always find myself desperately willing him not to finish his bowl so I can eat the leftovers :) So dangerous.

I had the very same crazy compulsion a few months ago. My husband loves goldfish (we don’t have any kiddos), so I decided I wanted to try and make them. I bought the identical cookie cutter and went to town. So fun!

This might just be the coolest post ever.
I hate feeding my kids goldfish crackers.
But they love them.
They love all crackers actually and I have wanted to make them homemade ones for a long while. It is hard to find a good recipe.
So a good cracker recipe that can actually replicate goldfish? Well, it is a find, I tell you.
To prove my point, my 6 year old son just walked in and said, “is that how you make goldfish crackers? Is that the recipe? Can we make them today?”
When I pointed out we did not have the cookie cutter, he suggested we carve each goldfish out with a knife.
Told you they are crazy for goldfish.
And by now he is figuring out his chances for getting anything treatish are greatly increased if it is homemade.
I see these in our near future.
Thanks!
Love from,
Greta

It is highly unlikely that I will ever make these. It is also highly unlikely I will ever stop loving your blog, especially with lines like: “I wasn’t going off the deep end, I had already been there as a little over a year ago” which made me laugh out loud. That thought had never once crossed my mind. You are just a bit more daring than most!

I’ve been making those cheese straws since you made that original post and they’re fantastic. It’s like a cheese-splosion in every bite. I lightly brush the tops of mine with a little water and sprinkle with tiny amounts of sea salt as well. If I can find those fish cutters around here, I’ll be doing that too. And I don’t have any kids. And yes, the crackers are EXCELLENT with a glass of wine.

I just made these with 100% white whole wheat flour and extra sharp cheese. I made them with my 3- and 6-year old daughters. They were very easy to make. The girls it was really cool when the dough came together in the food processor. I used my smallest biscuit maker (1-3/4 inch diameter) which made two batches totaling about 45 crackers. The first batch was very puffy and flaky, but not crispy. So I made smiley faces on the second batch to dock them and baked them for an extra minute (for a total of 14 minutes), but they did not become any crispier. The 6-year old did not care for them (maybe should have not used extra sharp cheddar, but it was all I had) and my 3-year old refused to give them a try. Oh well, there is always my 8-year old! And they do taste nice with a cup of coffee!

If you are off the deep end then so am I…thank you so much for this! My poor kid is ruined for life. We have already come to a point where most restaurants in our area are out of the question because (according to both big and little dudes) “It tastes better the way mom makes it”. Sigh, he’s going to have to marry a chef, or he’ll never leave (perhaps part the of plan?). I’ve done it to myself, as have you!

Now snack food? Perfect! I felt guilty about the preservatives, ect.. any way. Its the whole reason I started to cook every thing from scratch in the first place– plus I really do prefer my own cooking anyway!(Unless you’d like to have us over?)

Hi Deb – this recipe may be the best thing I’ve ever printed from your site!! My only grandson, Max, who has autism, is nuts about fish crackers – and to be able to make him some and know he’ll love them – well, it makes this grandma’s knees go weak! There is SO little that he likes to eat!! Thanks a million times over – I had NO idea fish crackers could be made at home – now I’m off to order me a cookie cutter, too! xoxo, Nan

Those are just awesome. Heh, you may never have to tell your little man whats in those treats he likes. My grandfather lived his whole life hating sour cream, but he *loved* stroganoff. He never found out either. :D

There was a time when I was totally addicted to gold fish. Unfortunately, gluten allergies put a stop to that. Maybe I’ll just have to order a fish cookie cutter for some inspiration to adapt the recipe… :)

These little guys are so frapping cool! I never in a million years would have thought about recreating one of my favorite snack foods at home…much less a less sodium laden version! Fantastic post, thanks so much for sharing!

This is amazing! I am totally addicted to gold fish crackers so when I saw this post (while on the treadmill I might add) I kind of gasped. Thank you for all of your creative takes on comfort food indulgences!

These were great and simple to make, Other then having to make my own cookie cutter and cutting out so many of them. I do wish you would go back to posting more frequently as I have now made everything on your site.

These are really cute. My toddler won’t eat slices or pieces of cheese, but she will eat it shredded. Weird, I know. I also can’t get her to eat much in the way of fruits or veggies, though she’ll beg for an apple (whole or sliced) and nibble on it in such a way so as to not actually ingest any. She also likes ceviche. And will eat the teacher’s collard greens at day care if allowed to. Kids are so strange.

Hi, Deb – These look great, although I have to admit I’d probably skip the shaping and just go for squares. I wanted to point out that you have two asterisks next to the amount of salt, but not anywhere else. I figure it’s probably referring to the note about using the larger amount for a saltier cracker, but just in case you meant to again refer to the kosher vs. fine-grained salt debate I figured I’d point it out.

So cute! I made tiny bite size chicken pot pies for my first child and I really loved doing it and he seemed to enjoy eating them. My second child did not get the same, let’s just say, attention to detail. Life with two kids is just to busy to cook anything more interesting then basic stuff, so relish this time!

I made these today. Yum! I might eat them all before my son wakes up from his nap. Just a note for anyone else out there without a food processor: I made mine in a kitchenaid mixer and it still comes out fine, just may take slightly longer than 2 minutes but it WILL come together eventually. I just cubed the butter and threw all the ingredients in together and used the paddle attachment.

I just made there with all whole wheat flour (I used all purpose for the dusting) and they turned out awesome! Totally wholesome and addictive and amazing. Kind of makes me wish I had kids to devour them but I think my roommate/boyfriend/neighbors can take care of these just fine. Thank you for posting!!

I have made your Oreos, AND your Pop-Tarts. Both were outrageously amazing!! I buy Goldfish crackers regularly for my 3 girls, and I can not wait to try this recipe. If nothing else, me and the Hubs will eat them! :-)

I used all whole wheat pastry flour and they were great. I didn’t want to wait to get a fish cutter, so I used some small hearts, stars and other shapes that I think the little girls I made them for will like. Great way to use up odd bits of cheese – only used about half yellow cheddar along with some swiss and parmesan. Still came out gold and tasted great!

I am eager to try these. For convenience and tastiness I was introduced to a vegan version a long time ago. I love them! I too go for easy squares and for the longest time never realized the importance of a whole in the middle so while they were tasty they weren’t ever “quite right.

I just did these with half whole wheat and half white wheat, and they were absolutely divine – the wheat flours really give them a nice flavor, I think. My sisters are currently inhaling them. I’ve been trying to avoid junk food lately, and I would never have thought to try making my own crackers – thank you so much for the inspiration!

It is embarrassing how much I like goldfish crackers – especially given that I am obviously well past toddler age. They were even part of the welcome bags/favors at our wedding because they may be my favorite snack.

And now, with your homemade version, I don’t have to feel so bad about my addiction.

I love these takes on junk food. We’ve tried the oreos with great success, even though I’m neither really a baker, nor have I ever really made icing before (I used a friend’s suggestion and filled the oreos with a cream cheese icing). I used the recipe for the goldfish today, despite not having the cutters (I am not that crazy ;) ). I don’t know whether I was too giddy to use my new multi-unit food scale and hence mixed the cups and the grams or because I used Tomme/Gruyere (for the person in France, Gruyere is a good sub) – but my dough was far too crumbly to have been rolled out so beautifully. It worked fine when I added three handfuls (I know, very precise) of water to the mix and then threw the whole ball back into the fridge for a bit. And it does rather taste like the real thing. I used celery salt instead of onion powder because I was too lazy to leave the house. Thank you for your inspiration!

I love this! My daughter is obsessed with any cracker that takes the shape of an animal, ok, she’s pretty much obsessed with all crackers but the animals take the cake! I can’t stop thinking of all the possibilities with this! Fish…owls, birds, bunnies, take your pick! Not to request a recipe but have you ever tried baking a Fig Newton? They always struck me as something that had such potential but never quite delivers in its store bought form.

I’ll be trying this as soon as I get my hands on that cookie cutter. My kids love goldfish crackers, but since you need a degree in chemistry to read the ingredient list, they are not allowed in our house. They will thank you for this!

Made these today with the little girl I babysit for. SO GOOD. Is it bad for grown-ups to be addicted to these? We used only all-purpose flour and they came out great! Also did a cheddar bunny variation instead of goldfish. Thanks for knocking out an hour of entertaining!

also! we did it without a food processor (and fresh garlic instead of onion pwdr)! just used a pastry cutter and fingers, and then added probably a tsp of ice water to do what binding the FP would probably have done. Turned out totally delicious, although maybe they would have been less greasy if the butter had been more finely chopped and dispersed rather than left in small pieces.

love these! Always on the lookout for fun and easy kid recipes. I am so excited to make these. My little guy always wants to make cookies because he loves to cut them out – now we can make fishies instead. thanks for fixing the cookie cutter link – it worked for me.

Deb, my children might start saying their good nite prayers to you! We don’t live in the USA anymore and goldfish are not available to us. My relatives pack christmas packages with goldfish so they are like gold dust in my home. I think you have just made the market crash! Thanks!

Wow! Clearly, these were a labor of love. Leave it to a cute toddler with pudgy arms to convince Mom to make a zillion adorably-detailed little crackers. I suspect you have a future unabashed cheese lover on your hands. Great recipe, great post, great photos–as always! I’d love to get my hands on one of those mini-fish cutters.

This is very similar to the recipe I use… first time I rolled and cut, then I discovered the genius that is using a cookie press (the kind you use for spritz cookies)…using room temp dough, no waste and cranking out batches in no time works great when you have a 3 year old bopping around asking when the “cheddar biscuits” will be ready. You can get them with a bunch of different shapes, though sadly nothing as cute as your goldfish.

Adorable, yes, although I must admit, my gut reaction was “Oh no, she didn’t!” I appreciate the notion of things to make for and with kids, but I’m afraid I might go a little nutty with a drill bit and grapefruit knife if I try these!

I just finished making these. I used a teeny tiny heart cutter for most of them. They are so tasty and cute! I added a little cayenne pepper for a kick. Might add a little more next time. I also added a little garlic salt to the tops of batch #3 for a little extra flavor.

I cannot fathom anyone, ever, not liking cheese. Hopefully, Jacob will fall in love with it, in all its variations, when he’s a little older. “Hey! These taste just like those goldfish crackers I love! Especially the ones my mom makes.” It could happen.

My kids are so excited to make these. I am always looking for alternative snacks that we can make and enjoy the whole process together. I have a feeling this will be a staple in the pantry. I just washed the big glass jar that they will be kept in. you are a visionary.

Made these today with 4 of our kids and it was so much fun! We also made your oreos and pop tart recipes today! In lieu of a food processor- I put the ingredients in a gallon zip lock back and let each child knead and mash it to their hearts content. I also had them then roll the dough while still in the bag, cut the bag open down the middle and then they used cutters on them. We employed this method with all three recipes (put the pop tarts and oreos in the fridge to firm them back up) But the hot little hands worked well on the cheese. I use this gallon bag method a lot- works with most cookie and bread recipes- easy to incorporate the under 5s in a fun, stress free manner.

Made two batches of these today: one regular, and the second one jalapeno cheddar for the hubby. I used about 1/2 tablespoon of the jalapeno cheddar Tabasco, and my husband says I should use more next time because he could hardly taste it, still good though. The plain ones were good too. I used a butterfly cutter; so ready for spring! Next time, I might try a spicy cheddar cheese for the hubby’s crackers. So easy to make. Thanks!

Deb, thank you for this! I made these today, and they are already gone! Of course, we don’t have your special fish cookie cutter, but I made tiny star and flower shapes. GONE GONE GONE. So good. We cannot buy Goldfish crackers Down Under (though we did find them in Bali, amazingly enough), and my girls are Goldfish cracker obsessed, so this recipe was an extra treat. Thanks for all the fantastic recipe sharing and inspiration over the past few years!

How cool are your photos. Your story keeps making me think of the ravioli commercial with the moms who tell the dads to zip it because they don’t want their kids to know there is a full serving of vegetables like you don’t want him to know there is cheese in it. Your cheese straw goldfish are too cute. Thanks for sharing this recipe and the photos.

Hurray! Although these were made for me, a toddler at heart, and gluten-intolerant. I substituted the flour with proportions I’ve found to work well as a replacement in most savory recipes (that don’t call for a chewy, gluten-y texture): 50:40:10 rice:garbanzo:potato flours, with two teaspoons of xanthum gum, kneaded several times before rolling out.

I just cut them with a pizza cutter and mocked up the look of Cheez-Its, which I only met and fell in love with about two years before my diagnosis.

Kudos to you for making these. I suffer from dablititating fatigue and can’t do basic things let alone someting like this. Your post made me smile, thank you for that. I think they may have switched babies on you – just say’n. If you ever need a live in adobted sister, please contact me ASAP. If you do, please know I have many many plans for you. *gathers up recipe folder and looks hopeful*

Followed a link on the Craft blog to get here. I was surprised to find that the cracker recipe was simpler than I expected. I might try making these, although I’ll skip the goldfish shape. My kids are teens and have outgrown that phase :-).

Haha wow you made your own goldfish crackers!! Amazing!! They are so cute, and look way better than the ones ive seen you can get in America, unfortunately here in the UK we dont have the pleasure of the cute goldfish crackers :(

I want you to know that I am travelling around East Africa for the semester and at the first opportunity to access the internet I came to your site first! These look delicious and your sweet little guy is so lucky! Now if only I could rustle up some decent cheddar around here- Kenya is definitely NOT known for its cheese!

Of course no one should stop you! It’s like Michael Pollan says, eat any treats you want as long as you make them yourself. By definition, it will be better for you than the similar thing they try to package and sell you. These sound great and they are adorable.

Wow, batch one I made to your recipe, no alterations (except mine were square and I pricked holes inthem with a fork fo venting) and they were fabulous. Then, because I often bake for a diabetic, I made a batch with 1/4 cup ww four and 1/2 cup ground almonds (from Trader Joe’s) to reduce carbs. They spread out a bit in the baking process, completely filled in the venting holes, and have a coarser and slightly chewy texture, but were still VERY tasty. Very easy recipe to play with. Thank you from me (and my kids) and my client!

I love homemade crackers! Some people think its silly to make your own crackers, but is it silly to make your own pasta? Or cake? Of course not! Sometimes we need to be reminded that almost everything tastes better homemade. Thanks for sharing : )

We made these tonight to go along with veggie soup (it’s SUPER rainy here today). These were fast and easy. I only had WW flour in the house and they are still yummy. I went super simple and just cut them into squares. Next time I’ll sprinkle them with salt before I bake them. I ended up misting them with water and salting them after the fact.

I made this 100% WW pastry flour, often a good choice in baking (anything besides bread). They were delicious! We just cut them into star shapes with a cookie cutter. My son helped roll them out and cut them into shapes. We ate them homemade broccoli soup and hardboiled eggs for dinner.

I second the vote that you are the best Mom ever. I can’t wait to make these and have them with red wine. Congrats on the article in the Portland paper. I was reading the paper on Sat and imagine my delight that your story was told and I loved that they mentioned that you are one of Oprah’s favorites. Your recipes are always great and many are our favorites (husband is still raving about the meatballs). Can’t wait for the cookbook – I predict it will be a best seller.

I love these and I am sure my toddler would love them toooo. A brilliant recipe with the whole wheat substitution…I am definitely going to try them out soon. I really don’t like giving him store bought stuff usually and make all his cookies, cakes, crackers et al

I made these on the weekend and they are “nummy” according to my 20 month old son. (We used mini animal-shaped cookie cutters.) I sprinkled a little salt on the second batch after they had been in the oven for about a minute.

i see a lot of the comments are about parents making these for their miniatures, so i feel out of place on this one. i am 30 and i made them for myself this weekend. what?….adults need healthy snack crackers too : )
ps, they are SO good.

We make similar crackers. I didn’t (until now, thanks!!!) have a goldfish cookie cutter, so I use a variety of tiny animals and call them “animal crackers”. But a goldfish will be that much better!
I use all ww flour and it works well. I’ve tried a variety of spices (paprika is my fav so far), and different cheeses. Sometimes I add some b&w sesame seeds.

Thank you so much for making, and posting, your versions of commercial products! I tried these (and wrote about it on my blog) and they were a huge success with my, adult, family. There is really nothing better than a recipe that looks easy to make, and actually is.

I wonder if anyone else has found that the taste of the flavoring in batter (I used onion powder) does not match the taste in the finished baked product. The onion was overwhelming to the point of in-edibility in my batter, but was just a hint of onion-y deliciousness after baking.

So, I’m a newcomer to the Smitten Kitchen but an instant devotee! Having been housebound with a newborn for the last ten weeks, my husband and I had fallen into a deep, DEEP takeout coma until I came across this blog and oh, how my stomach thanks you! In addition to hours of reading, I’ve gotten out from under the baby (delicious as he is) and have spent several happy hours in the kitchen creating food I actually want to eat. So empowering after two months of pizza and well-intentioned-but-all-very-similar casseroles brought over by relatives…

I made these last night when struck by a sudden cheese craving. Not having any wheat flour (I know, I’ll get some), I just used the regular stuff, and totally ordinary cheddar, and I had zero cute cookie cutters and limited time, so I just cut them into squares and you know what? THEY WERE DELICIOUS. There’s a pot of Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce bubbling on my stove right now and I’m off to find blood oranges this afternoon. You’re my hero! Thank you thank you!

Oh my goodness, this cutter is made in my hometown. The are located across the street from where I work. They have the cutest cookie cutters I have seen. I have the one of a pregnant woman to make cookies for baby showers.

Just found your site and I do NOT know how I got here… LOL! All I can say is my 6th grader said he would PAY me to make these… ha ha! I told him no he didn’t have to pay but I would appreciate it if he helped me.

They’re not just for little ones – I made these for my teen and tween and they were declared awesome. I used white whole wheat flour (to keep more of the orange color) and sprinkled a tiny bit of kosher salt on some. Yum! Thanks!

NO WAY!!! My best friend and I go to a certain bar for the sole purpose of over indulging in the bottomless bowls of goldfish. This is exactly what I need to make her for her upcoming birthday!! Thanks for such a whimsical and fun idea.

The most delightful post! All of it from the cute little tiny cutter to the adorable little tiny Jacob…but what made me spew my Diet Coke all over the computer was the “goldfish negatives”. I laughed till I cried! Deb, you are the best!!

Oh, these are just darling little morsels. My son has extensive food allergies, so in an effort to give him a bit of normalcy, I have been making a gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, corn-free version. Good to see that someone else has engaged in this tedious little task! ;)

omg. you didn’t do it! ha. that is so awesome. my boyfriend inhales goldfishes and he’s been trying annie’s bunnies instead. they are addictive though I am not sure if i can justify the time and work that it takes to make all these little goldfishes. who I might when I feel a bit more ambitious!

Thanks for this recipe! Glad nobody stopped you. My girls love goldfish crackers. We live in Mexico and can’t find them here. My mom mails some every once in a while but that is pricey and they are usually crumbly once they get here.

I know mom advice can be annoying, and maybe you have already tried this, but my little guy loves brie or port salut on crackers, even though he turns his nose up at the harder cheeses. It seems a little fancy, and then my husband and I eat it, too, which we probably shouldn’t, but our son loves it, and it’s pretty cute/ridiculous to hear him ask for brie or port salut! We also sometimes have success with string cheese or cheese sticks. Of course, he will also be fine without cheese, and he looks incredibly healthy/adorable to me!

I don’t eat goldfish or have kids, but am really searching for a reason to make these, because they are so freakin’ cute. When I get over my obsession with the adorable white and chocolate brownies with exchanged belly-buttons, I am moving on to be obsessed with these.

I am very excited about these since I’ve noticed how greasy the store bought crackers are and I love the whole wheat flour addition. My question is whether you have considered making a homemade Nilla wafer–my kids love them. My son has a peanut allergy, so anything I make myself means one less label to read. Thanks!

Those are adorable and even if it is a liiitle ridiculous to order a cookie cutter just for this purpose, well … we all do that kind of thing, don’t we? I love cheese straws, next time maybe I will bust out the cookie cutters. :)

four words- white whole wheat flour- check it out- same nutritional benefit as the “real” thing, less the intense “wheatyness” (as in you’d never know it’s wheat flour)- which can be good or bad, but for kids, definitely good. I use it for everything, Trader Joe’s has their own brand, and King Arthur flour has it, too (and the price at Wal-Mart is the same as the TJ’s price, so I found…). I’ve done a lot of cooking with kids and this looks like fun! Thanks can’t wait to try it!

350+ comments! Are the gold fishies breaking records? Then again it could be your growing following.
I see there is another Maya here so I’ll be MN Maya.
When I first saw this post, I thought: this one is not for me. Alas yesterday I made them. Using 1/4 tsp Shallot Salt (which I happen to have) instead of the onion powder (which I did not have) and the salt. And cutting them (not very precisely) into sort-of-squares with my pizza cutter, and pricked them with a fork. My teenagers turned their noses up at them. One suggested more salt. But all the adults that got to try them thought they were great. Thanks. I’m glad to know making crackers is a snap.

Made it spontaneously, when my toddler got sick and wouldn’t eat anything but bread. I used whole wheat, ground fennel seeds and paprika. I didn’t believe I would do shapes, but at the spur of the moment used fondant flower cutter with built in indentation in the center. It made 1qt jar full of pretty flowers happily devoured by 3 kids and 1 husband. Including the sick one.

These are incredibly delicious! My own toddler is now following me around the house begging for cheese-cacka! I disagree that they taste like goldfish, but that’s probably because I upped the onion powder a smidge. :D These are phenomenal and packed with cheddar flavor! Best possible way to show off the sharp cheddar my G’ma in WI sent my way!

I immediately wanted to make these, but cheddar is hard to come buy here (I’m living in France), so I substituted the cheese by half gruyere and half mimolette (at least the colour is the same as in orange cheddar).
I didn’t have any whole wheat flour left, so I ended up mixing half white wheat flour and whole rye flour. As I do not have a cute fish cookie cutter, I made little rounds and decided to decorate them with poppy seeds and white sesame seeds. So, finally I changed quite a bit about your recipe, but they turned out great!The rye adds depth and leave a distinct but pleasant flavour… Thanks for making me bake these ;)
Here are some pictures of the little beauties on the cooling rack: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmoeller/5512618831/

Update: I decided I just had to have these right away and went ahead and made them with pre-shredded Kraft cheese and they turned out wonderful! Couple things of not and I don’t know if this from using the cheese but thought I’d mention it in case it was: the dough didn’t ball-up after a couple minutes of processing so I turned to your original cheese-straws post and saw the addition of cream. I added about 1/2 teaspoon and it was perfect. Everything came together in a minute and baked up beautifully. My 3 year old helped with making it and now the house smelly wonderfully cheesy! Thanks!

I just finished up my batch of these! I’m so excited to make these over and over.
I also made these without a food processor (mine has been acting funny..). I used a pastry blender, cubed the butter, and finely shredded the cheese. It does take longer than the 2 minutes in the food processor, but not outrageously so. (5 minutes or less I think.) It all came together into a nice tight ball even!
I haven’t gotten the fish cookie cutter yet (I wanted the test the flavor first). I used my pastry cutter and cut the dough into squares and poked each a couple of times with a fork. They came out great. Totally getting the cookie cutter (probably in a couple of different shapes!)

Thanks for the great idea & recipe! I made these tasty bites this afternoon & they turned out so delicious! I didn’t have a fish cutter but couldn’t resist giving them a try since I had everything else – I used a mini bunny & a mini daisy cutter & made them into cheddar bunnies & blossoms :) so incredibly cute! and much easier than I thought they would be! Thanks!!!

Hi Deb! We don’t have goldfish crackers here in Greece, but everyone here was raving about them, so I decided to give them a shot. The flavour was really great, cheesy all the way. But they were not crispy, as I thought they’d be. are these supposed to be soft? If not, any idea what could have gone wrong? Thank you for all the great recipes!!

My neighbor and I just made these for our toddlers. We used 100% whole wheat flour and sharp white cheddar. We used various small cookie cutters (but not fish) and they turned out great. They’re very buttery/oily and crispy from the cheese. Not my favorite crackers, but then again I don’t like the store-bought goldfish much either. The babies love them though!

These seem perfectly appropriate to include with the finger foods for a bridal shower I’m hosting in a couple of weeks. And then in for a baby shower in a month. Or just as a new staple-food in my diet.

Side note: don’t worry about your son not liking cheese. I hated it to the point I didn’t even eat pizza. I grew out of it by middle school (and had fun making up for lost time).

Way to go! I used to love these guys when I lived in the States, but you cannot get them in the UK. I will definitely try and make them! (Please ignore that I’m not a toddler nor do I have toddlers to feed…)

I made these last night (in the shape of dogs and horses because that’s the mini cutters I had!) and I used whole wheat white flour. DELICIOUS! I like them even more than goldfish, much less salty, and softer, so you aren’t getting crumbs all over. I think they’ll work fantastic for our little girls too, (14 months), and I know that big brother will love them!

I made these the other night, and they didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped. The ones that were even *slightly* over-baked were quite bitter. My toddler is somewhat ambivalent about them. Any one else have this issue? Maybe it’s just the cheese I used (half medium orange cheddar, half aged white cheddar). Also, I had some trouble with the dough sticking to the counter/rolling pin even with chilling, and lots of tearing when moving the crackers from counter to baking sheet.

Loved them conceptually on sight, but thought, initially, that they would tax my patience threshold. Shared the link with an avid 11-yr old cook who would have the tenacity to move all the little fishies & she blew my mind with the concept of rolling the dough onto the parchment, stamping the shapes and peeling away the negative-space dough. I am trying it this weekend!

I was so excited when I saw this recipe and knew I had to try. Had no success quickly finding a fish cookie cutter but since it is almost St. Patrick’s Day I used a small shamrock. I did not have time to get WW flour so used just AP flour but will try WW flour when I can get to the store for next time. They turned out wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.

Nicole — It’s not a one-size-fits-all thing with swapping. In general, I start with a 1/3 swap of whole wheat flour and only increase it to 1/2 or further if I’m confident that the recipe will still taste good with it. As you cook more with WW flour, you get more of a feel for what it does and does not do well.

I made these last night and the dough was incredibly soft. I used a medium cheddar cheese and mostly white flour, as that’s what I had on hand. Having bad experiences with overly dry crackers, I opted to roll these out in wax paper, no flour. The first few batches were very difficult to cut, as the dough was incredibly soft, even with time in the fridge. Midway through batches, I started rolling the dough in flour, as the crackers were very greasy. That helped with the cutting, but the dough was still pretty soft. The last batch was the best of the lot, but they still left a lot of grease on the fingers. My son loves crackers, especially in his “snack cup” but I can’t see letting him wander our house with greasy fingers. Is that something that more flour will help? Maybe less butter/cheese? Or is that just what I should expect from homemade crackers with real cheese? (I suspect the commercial varieties are using cheese powder.) The flavor, however, was fantastic! Much more flavorful and moist than the commercial varieties.

I made these this weekend. They were delicious! Although, I do have to say after storing them overnight, they got pretty soft. Is that normal? I make a very similar “cheese cookie” but you roll it in a ball and press a pecan in it. We often make it with smoked cheddar and add chipotle for a kick. Not so much for the kids but for us to enjoy with a nice glass of wine. Yum!

I loved this post! I laughed out loud at buying the goldfish cutter – only becuase that is completely something I would do. I made these with a small lion cutter only because my son would scoff at anything that resembled his beloved “oldfish” crackers. I sent them to school for snack with my son and apparently everyone loved them. As did my husband who snuck a bunch for taking to work. I love your recipes!!

I made these yesterday with freshly ground whole wheat flour. They were perfect. I also didn’t have the little fish cutter on hand so I cut them (with a ruler) into 1″ squares. I docked them each one time with a fork. They were delicious. My 6 year old enjoyed poking the squares with the for and didn’t know they were supposed to be fish. Thank you!

Just made these with garlic powder — one batch, and generic bbq/chili powder seasoning. Yum on all accounts. Also, larger cutters work well, too. We used heart shapes, small size, left from valentines.

As a Wisconsin girl, born and raised, I just can’t imagine a kid who doesn’t love cheese! But, my waistline sure would love it if I loved cheese less. . .

These are amazing. I made one batch as written, and then in the second batch, I used the same amount of whole wheat flour, and then put 4T of flaxseed meal in the 1/4 c. measuring cup before I filled it with the AP flour. I’ve been trying to sub in flaxseed meal in lots of our baked goods lately, and it subs in quite well as long as I don’t add too much. . .Both batches were delicious. I haven’t had the problems other people had in the comments–this worked perfectly. Also, thanks for the link to the cutter, it is adorable, and my kids think they’re getting some kind of amazing treat because we had to wait for the cutter to make them!

Just made these this afternoon and they are TASTY! I live overseas, so it’s so always fun to find recipes to made familiar foods from home that we can’t get here. I can’t get onion powder so I substituted garlic powder. Also no cute tiny cookie cutters – I rolled out the dough and used a pizza cutter to just make squares. As I was making them I was actually kind of hoping that they wouldn’t taste too good because they are quite a lot of work. “Unfortunately,” they are delicious and will be made again, many times. One recipe doesn’t seem to make very many crackers – I would double it next time to make it worth the effort. I tried just mixing the dough by hand since I don’t have a stand mixer or food processor, but it wouldn’t come together at all. So I went to my neighbor’s house to use her stand mixer and it came together immediately. They don’t really taste like Goldfish crackers – I actually think they’re much better!

Woot! Woot! I am trying this recipe the moment I get my hand on some onion powder. My 3 yr old loves goldfish and its not just a snack for him It gets into his meal’s as a side dish, too. I can sure give him some whole wheat home-made goodness in his snack bowls/plates now on. Thankeee!

I just made these with my preschool class today and it went great. The kids grated the cheese and we mixed everything by hand. The dough wasn’t coming together (to dry) so I added a couple splashes of milk and it formed into a great dough ball.

We ended up making two batches because they were having so much fun grating the cheese. We used a shark and star cookie cutters and they even made up a song about how excited they were to be making shark gold fish.

We didn’t have any onion powder at school so I just omitted it. I think a small sprinkle of salt on top of them next time would be great.

The kids also loved them and are asking when we will be making them again.

Just made these for my 1-year old (5 weeks older than Jacob, so I love reading about your mommy-ventures!). I didn’t have quite enough cheddar so added about 1/4 c of parmesan to make up the difference. They really do taste like Cheez-its! And I have onion flakes instead of powder, so I just whizzed all the dry ingredients in the food processor before adding the cheese and butter, and no one’s the wiser. Thanks for sharing an easy, fun recipe with us!

I really felt these would not taste right without the cute little cutter, but I didn’t want to pay that much for one tiny, albeit adorable cutter. It’s rough being persnickety on a small, not cute budget. Anyway, I made a cutter. Michael’s has a 4 pack of Spring cutters in the cake section. There’s a tulip flower shape in there. I flattened out the top of the petals to make the tail. Then I just squeezed a little below the tail, and poof! Goldfish! Just in case anyone else really wants to make traditional goldfish crackers.

Apparently I share your brand of craziness. I just bought mini animal cookie cutters (fish, elephant, pig, DOLPHINS!) and will attempt to make this for my own toddler this weekend. I think I’m doing it just to see how cute he is eating these cookies.

I made a gluten free version yesterday, substituting the wheat & white flours with 1/4 cup quinoa flour, 1/4 cup millet flour & 1/4 cup brown rice flour. The dough was a tad sticky when rolling it out but it was easy to handle by rolling the refrigerated dough between lightly floured (I used rice flour) parchment paper. The gluten free version turned out really tasty! Thank you for sharing this recipe.

I used all whole wheat flour and my son, myself, and even my mother LOVED them! I bought alphabet cutters but ended up just using a pizza cutter and just cut the crackers into squares and used the alphabet cutters to make alphabet imprints. ADORABLE! This recipe was definitely a crowd pleaser! Thank you :)

OMG! These were freakin amazing. I used multi grain flour in place of wheat (all I had on hand) and garlic powder (didn’t have any onion powder). They were a hit with the kiddo and adults! Next time, I’m going to try and make a spicy version. Thank you for the GREAT recipe. I am addicted to cheese crackers and its nice to have an all natural recipe.

I made these twice this week and I love the cute little goldfish cutter! The second time was with all whole wheat flour and extra sharp cheddar. They were much better with the whole wheat and all-purpose flour amounts you listed. I think sharp cheddar tastes better than extra sharp in these. Also I used half of the opening of a small biscuit cutter to make the mouth and it worked well.

I just made these today. Holy cow are they awesome! I used 1/2 cup of plain whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup of strong white bread flour (because it was all I had and that was the last of the whole wheat! :P) Also used some incredibly sharp cheddar that I didn’t particularly like on it’s own. Used the opening of a test tube to make them round as opposed to fishy. I can’t stop eating them!

I made these yesterday with one of my friends, and WOW can I say amazing! We used paprika (no onion powder in the house), and added a whack of Tex Mex pre-shredded cheese (because it needed to be used), guyere, and parmesan (because they just happened to be in the fridge). We even found a tiny goldfish cutter.

Made these last night and my four boys inhaled them. Didn’t have the cookie cutter, so I cut them into squares (takes no time at all!), made a dot in the center with a steak knife, and they looked and tasted just like Cheez-Its. Thanks for sharing a great recipe.

The link worked for me with no problem. My son loves the Flavor Burst Pizza flavor Goldfish and that is it. When they are on sale, I buy bags and then store them in the basement. If I handed him the bag he would eat it all in one sitting so I hide the bags and portion them out in 1/4 cup servings. They would disappear much quicker if I didn’t. At $3 a bag (at times) that is not good. So, I will try these and add some Italian seasoning or some Pizza Seasoning (from King Arthur) and see if they taste familiar.

I’ve made these twice and have been putting them in my boys’ lunches for a couple of weeks now. They are really easy to make, but the first batch really needed a little more pizzazz, so in the 2nd batch i put cayenne in half and caraway in half. Delicious and more interesting. I don’t have onion powder so i used garlic powder both times.

First batch received some eyes and mouths, but 2nd batch i figured there was a limit to my insanity so no features.

I’d be interested in learning what tweaks others made to this recipe but after scanning through 150 comments I gave up. Is there anyway to color comments that have baking suggestions differently so they jump out?

I have a question about the goldfish. i tried to make them but I don’t have a food processor. I used my mixer but my dough just looked like flour with some cheese in it. Does you have to use the processor or did I do something wrong? Help???
Courtney

The food processor gets the cheese fully ground so that it mixes with the dough well. You could also try to very finely grate your cheese, like with a zester, and then mix it with an electric mixer for a similarly smooth dough.

I just made these and they are so darn cute that I believe I squealed at one point during the baking process. The pictures will be up on my blog soon! I hope I don’t eat them all before I finish taking photos.

YOU’RE THE BEST! I’ve been feeling really sad since moving to Melbourne where there are no goldfish crackers :o and I’m so glad I came across this! I am definitely going to try baking some! Thank you!!!!!

Just made A LOT of these, I doubled the dough because I wanted to make these for my friend’s bday, she loves goldfish crackers, so I made these, put them in a big glass jar, attached the recipe and a goldfish cutter with orange ribbon and I am very happy with the results. I don’t have a food processor, so I put everything (room-temp butter) in my stand mixer with the paddle attachment and the dough came together perfectly, and after about 20min in the fridge it was ready to go. I didn’t make smiles, but couldn’t resist dotting little eyes. I added a bit of garlic powder. These are delicious! I wish I had made even more!

i just finished my 1st attempt at these. they are great. i made a few adjustments that turned out a little..meh..

I used all wheat flour instead of the 1/2 wheat to 1/4 white ratio. the wheat flour taste is a little more noticeable than i would have liked. I think next time i will follow the recipe or if using all wheat flour possibly adding more cheese might make the taste less prominent.

I didnt have a cute gold fish cookie cutter and was dyeing to make them…instead i used a pizza cutter and cut the dough into squares like Cheese-Its and used a tooth pick to poke the holes in the middle. they aren’t as cute but they are still delicious. perfect snack.

Made a batch of these this afternoon.
I used wholewheat bread flour, and about 1/3 extra finely grated cheese to go on top.
We don’t have a fish cutter but I used a little rabbit, pig and apple. the kids got out the christmas cutters, but they were a bit big.

cooked them on the top shelf for the 2nd batch as they took over 1/2 hour on the middle shelf (gas oven)

Tasted great, but there’s probably only 12 small animals left lol.

Oh, I used 1/4 tsp of mustard powder instead of onion as I don’t like onion.
thanks.

For some reason the dough was extremely dry, so I added more butter, about 50 gr and about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. I didn’t have fish cutters (or access to them) so I made squares, and man are they GOOD! Delicious! Thanks to you now I’ll have homemade whole wheat cheez-it crackers ;)

In the UK we have Ritz crackers which sound like the same thing – I won’t let myself buy them as they’re so salty and I would eat the whole packet! I think I’ll have a go at these and try freezing them so that I don’t polish them all off in one sitting!

I just made these for my daughter and husband and they went crazy for them. They are both feeling ill so I thought that these might lift their spirits. I was right! We didn’t have any all purpose flour so I used just whole wheat flour. They loved it anyway. I couldn’t find my mini cookie cutters so I used my melon ball-er to shape the dough. Thank you so much for the amazing recipe! :D

So good and super crispy. I used white whole wheat flour (because that’s what I had on hand). I used my smallest round cookie cutter and poked a hole in the middle with a cocktail-sized straw. I baked them for 11 minutes in a convection oven at the temp in the recipe. On a less healthy note, I very lightly sprinkled the crackers with kosher salt before baking them (only a grain or two per cracker). Delicious! I love your site and I’m having a blast recreating these snacks for my girls. They’re enjoying it, too. Thank you!!

Made these with my two and a half year old nephew last weekend. Couldn’t find a goldfish cookie cutter so opted for a teddy bear. We were calling them cheddy teddies. Such a great rainy day project for the little ones. Not only was he a star at using the cookie cutter, he was happy to help transfer them to the baking sheet.

This is the first time he has cooked at home and loved being able to play with the dough and eat his creation! Thanks for the great idea and a morning of fun and silliness in the kitchen!

I was recently introduced to your blog and now I just. can’t. stop. I saw this recipe yesterday and immediately had to try it out.

I used a very sharp, aged cheddar from the farmer’s market and brushed cholula hot sauce on the tops of the dough before baking.
I am too impatient to wait for the goldfish cookie cutter (albeit adorable!), so I just cut the dough into little triangles. They are delicious and my boyfriend couldn’t be happier :)
Thanks for sharing!!

I can’t wait to try these, my husband loves goldfish crackers and cheese-its, but, like another poster said, I hate how processed they are. My questions are:1.) do they stay crisp/ crunchy after storage? And 2.) how long do they keep? My hubby likes to take baggies of crackers with him to work with his lunch for a snack and I would love to have these replace the store bought, but would rather not have to bake them fresh every other day like some recipes for cheese straws/ crackers. :)

Finally got around to making these, supposedly for my 13 month old twins, but really I think I’ll eat most of them. They take only minutes to make, but forever to cut out. I realize this is a comment now in the multi-hundreds, but just FYI for others. I spent about an hour cutting out the crackers and docking them with a toothpick. They taste great, and did make 100 or more, but allow plenty of time for the cutting out phase. Definitely worth it to stick the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes, given it will be sitting on the counter getting warm during the cutting process.

I was searching for homemade snack ideas tonight and low and behold I found your site. I cannot wait to try these tomorrow! Also, I am currently trying to convince my husband that I NEED that adorable fish cookie cutter. :)

I’m really excited to try this recipe! I’m on a budget, so I’m trying not to buy extra kitchen stuff right now. Any suggestions for whether this would work with cookie cutters I already own, which are much larger than the mini fish cookie cutters? Do I need to adjust the bake time

I make these with 100% ww flour and white cheddar cheese. But I’m lazy and I roll them into logs, freeze for twenty minutes, and slice and bake. We call them cheesy moon crackers at our house. I stamp a little man on the moon face into about 20 of them, and they get mixed into the batch so once in a while you get a special cracker. Also… I’ve made them with orange cheese and added turmeric for extra colour, and it’s good for you. Not too much tho, I think 1/4 tsp was enough. Another variation I’ve tried that I saw on another website that worked out really well… I put about 1/2 cup carrot pulp from my juicer into the mix… made more crackers, didn’t notice it and added fibre that was going into the compost otherwise. I’m going to try them with rye flour next.

Just did a test drive of this recipe for my son’s upcoming fourth birthday. It’s a fish-themed party and I’ll be making these as a take-home gift. Where’d you get those cute little containers with lids?

I made these for my niece and neph and they finished it in a day. LOL!
Will definitely make them again! BTW I didn’t have a mini fish cutter so i used my mini gingerbread cutter instead =D, still tasted yummy!

We live in Germany and there are very few healthy snacks here (that my son will eat) that do not contain ridiculous amounts of sugar or salt. I thought the Germans were supposed to be so “crunchy”, but the candy aisle in every supermarket dwarfs the candy aisles you find in the states, and any food aimed at kids is choc full of, well, chocolate, and sugar and other unhealthy stuff. And NO GOLDFISH crackers in Germany!!! Because my son is picky, and there is a no nut policy at his new preschool, I am desperate to find a savoury snack to pack in his snack box. I managed to bring back a couple of boxes of Goldfish from the States and ration them carefully, but this is obviously not sustainable. Your recipe sounds like just what I need. And they are certainly healthier than the real thing. Can’t wait to try them!! Thank you!

Not sure if anyone’s still reading this far down the comments, but two batches just came out of the oven. I used garlic instead of onion because it’s what I had and they came out pretty well, though be sure and use extra sharp cheese – I used a plain ol’ cheddar and they’re quite mild. But the reasons for my comment:
DON’T decide $8 for a tiny fish is too much when you could get the whole mini alphabet for $10 and have the added benefit of being mildly educational. It’s impossible to get the dough out of the little letters, even if you freeze it. I managed a couple of straight letters like F, K and J, but it was disastrous.
DO add spinach! I used about 1/2 cup of frozen chopped spinach, defrosted it and squeezed the living daylights out of it so it wouldn’t water down the dough, and took out 1 tbs of butter for the same reason (though this might have been unnecessary). Delicious and an easy way to get my toddler to eat some more greens. They turn a really pretty green color too.

LOL I love this idea …I’m constantly buying these crackers with my coupons for my nephews…This is WAY cheaper and….well….you just convinced me to buy a new cookie cutter LOL (p.s. thanks for the tip on the site :D I LOVE IT!!!) Now I just have to wait for my cutter in the mail and my snuffie nuffs will be getting nummy new goldfish crackers :D

Made a dairy-free (vegan) version of these and they turned out great! Used daiya “cheddar” and Earth Balance buttery stick. Kids LOVED them and were very unhappy when we cut them off … so there would be enough left to pack in lunches.

done, and GLUTEN-FREE! this was my first real attempt baking gluten free. i used all whole-grain flours and the crackers are…nutty, but i like that. i used: 1/4 c each brown rice, sorghum, and buckwheat. all other ingredients as listed. i used two pair of pliers and pulled a heart-shaped cutter into a fish shape, as a friend of mine did first. the fish are 2-3 inches long, and so good. yum!!! going to make these in our early childhood special ed classroom with the kids!

Holy smokes, these are my savior. The little girl I nanny recently started chemo and I made these for her (in heart shapes, obviously) as she doesn’t eat much anymore, so if she’s going to snack we’d prefer it be on real ingredients. These are delicious, and have begun what I can only imagine will become a cracker making obsession. A tiny bit of control in the face of chaos. Thank you thank you thank you.

After spending an embarrassing amount of time online searching for a tried and true gluten/dairy free cracker for my toddler group so that everyone can enjoy snack, I end up where I began: here! Like #466 (Thanks, Lynn!), I used Earth Balance stick and already shredded Daiya cheddar (using the whole package- 8oz.), and to get the G.F. part used 3/4 c. Bob’s Red Mill “All Purpose Baking Flour” (which, according to the package “contains a blend of gluten free flours from potatoes, sorghum, tapioca, garbanzo and fava beans”) with the addition of 1t. xanthum gum (** purchased in bulk- a tiny amount- from my local co-op… I didn’t spring for the $13 8 oz. bag!). I used Penzy’s toasted granulated onion and oh my gosh, these are very tasty! Not being one to resist tasting the dough, it had a slight aftertaste of “something”… maybe garbanzo? But, once baked they are really good and the texture is easy to work with. I dusted the countertop and the top of the mound with a light dusting of rice flour.
So, I’ve made these using the “real” recipe and by punting to make a casein/gluten free version and both are outstanding. FYI: I’ve never baked gluten/vegan/dairy free… it was simple!

Love this recipe! I like to make different variations with fun kinds of cheddar. I’ve found that a jalapeno cheddar works especially well. My only thing (and it isn’t bad) is that I usually get double the number of crackers that the recipe says. Maybe I’m rolling out the dough too thin, but the cooking times work correctly, so I don’t know.

Sweet as a nutmeat! We made them with 100% Whole *White* Whole wheat. We were out of butter so I substituted Pumpkin puree and they are a great color as a result plus a few nutrients I guess . . . less, perhaps some flakiness?

I absolutely love this recipe–and so do my husband and 2-ish son! I couldn’t wait until our next shopping trip to make these babies with a block of cheddar, so I used our leftover shredded Mexican blend from tortillas the night before and BAM! Delish. Also, since we didn’t have any cutters that small (and since I ran out of patience after hand-carving just two of the fishy shapes with a paring knife), I used a good old-fashioned apple corer to make sun-shaped crackers instead. They turned out great and I am now super pumped to try more of your recipes. Thanks so much for posting!

Thank you SO much for sharing this. I’ve been meaning to experiment with this very thing, and now I don’t have to. Time saved, and whole wheat homemade goldfish delivered. My 5 year olds are still drawn to those friendly little crackers and I REALLY don’t like to buy them for them. We’re a Triscuits only kind of storebought cracker house. I shall be making my own little friendly fish VERY soon, maybe eve in time for twins starting kindergarten lunchboxes.

I just want to tell you (because I thought you would appreciate it) that I am going to use your recipe to make little, baby buffalo crackers. I have a baby buffalo cookie cutter…what better use? Also it gives me an excuse to say buffalo like a hundred times. Today is going to be a good day.

I just made these today and they were a hit- thanks for the great recipe! Have you tried shaping the dough into logs, chilling and then slicing them to make round crackers? The fish are the cutest, but some days I hate dragging out the pastry cloth and rolling pin and I’m wondering if I could make extra rounds and freeze them….

I’ve never liked cheese either and now as a grown up it’s kind of annoying but I’d like to think I’m well adjusted despite it :)
I also like goldfish crackers, although even more I love the ‘soup’ goldfish crackers they make.

I just made these and they are absolutely delish! My two boys (4 & 1) could live on goldfish/cheddar bunnies and I despise buying them at the store. Thank you for this fun, and more importantly, easy, fast recipe. I can hardly wait for the boys to try them tomorrow!

Hey Deb, These look awesome. I am a fairly new reader and I absolutely love reading your blog. Delightful! Anyways, do you think these crackers are baby-friendly finger foods? Do they break down quickly enough? I’m thinking of making them for my son’s first birthday party.

Andrea — They probably are but I am suuuuuper uncomfortable giving any kind of baby-feeding advice as I’m not an expert in anything but feeding my own kid. Would I have given him these on his first birthday? Absolutely. But we’d be doing solids for a while.

Have made these now twice. The first time, I used half cheddar and half parmesan – delicious! The second time, I used the full cheddar. I was disappointed in the full cheddar version, but then my little 10 month old got a hold of them. He loves the full cheddar! I rolled the second batch on the thicker side (still thin), cut it into squares (more like cheez-its) and only poked a few holes – it was kind of puffy and softer than the originals. My husband thinks I’m crazy, but will definitely be making again!

Made these this morning with and for my 2.5 year old. So easy and delicious! I used colby and a random raw cheese my cousin left (it may be cheddar). I also used a ravioli cutter to cut out little squares. My only comment is that the dough is so delicious the crackers almost didn’t get made ;)

A friend brought me two options for fish cookie cutters – one long and thin and the other short and fat but much bigger than original goldfish and actually a mitten. They both came out great – though the long and thin’s tail would fall off if I didn’t dip in flour assiduously.
I didn’t have onion powder so subbed paprika. They are yummy!

LOVE these crackers. I have made a few batches like the original that turned out fantastic. I do not like using refined flour though. I used all whole wheat once and I could not get the dough to stick together enough. It never formed a compact ball in the processor. The next go round I used all white whole wheat The dough was a little softer but did not stick together well at all. Difficult to roll thin enough. The dough just is too crumbly. Has anyone else had this issue and know how to fix it?

Deb, it took me forever to get around to these but at last I did. I did make them with whole wheat and my wheat was spouted, dried and ground beforehand. I AM crazy and do this all the time and have a wheat grinder, but you can buy sprouted wheat in certain stores that carry those things. Anywho, they turned out perfect!!!! Perfect. I used a small heart shaped cutter for Valentines Day (oh I wish I could post a photo, they are adorable) and will put them in my 3 boys lunches tomorrow. Happiest Valentines to you and yours and thank you for the post!

Made these yesterday while waiting for baby #2 to finally make her appearance. My 5 yr old son did not go for them….but I think that’s because he wanted to add blue food coloring. I on the other hand loved them. I cut a plastic milk container and fashioned a fish cutter out of it and that was a quick and cheap way to get the fish shape.

I do not have a food processor, but I would like to make these! I have a stand mixer or a hand mixer and a regular old pastry cutter. I am assuming from looking at other crackers recipes that the butter is cold and that you cut it in (or the processor does anyway) so I can do that with my pastry cutter, but then do I just form the ball myself with my hands? What makes it come together if I mix it by hand? Or should I use a mixer?

So good! I make these every once in a while, they are always a big hit. To the last batch I added a 1/4 tsp of nutritional yeast along with the onion powder. They were the cheesiest they’ve ever tasted! Highly recommended.

How well do these crackers keep? I have been looking for a recipe to make my own Goldfish crackers and am not surprised that I found one on my beloved Smitten Kitchen. Just curious on how long they stay good and tasty :)

I am making these for the second time. The first time I made them my son had a friend over. He is here today and asked me if I could make them again!! I made them with all white whole wheat flour and they came out great! They are best right off the cookie sheet :)

Just made these for my daughter to take to day camp with her tomorrow – I made them exactly as written – fabulous.. I might eat them all before she comes home today lol. I couldn’t find a cutter in Montreal and I didn’t want to wait to order one (although I will be for future batches) so I made one from an aluminum can which worked relatively well if not quite as pretty :)

I don’t have a food processor but used a pastry blender. When it just wasn’t coming together, I realized the dough was rather like pie dough, and added 3tbsp water – perfect! I started with finely grated mozzarella and used a pizza wheel to make simple squares. Delicious!

Wow, I had to scroll forever to write a comment, by I really wanted to say thank you for this and your other fab recipes! I have just discovered your site over here I south africa and bought your book for my kindle immediately! I made teddy bear cheesy biscuits. They have provided plenty of teddy bear picnic moments.

I love this thank you! We are a GF household so I substituted all flour with all purpose gluten free flour and added 1/4 TSP xantham gum, also a tsp olive oil since it seemed to dry after processing, my cook time increased to 16-18 min, they came out wonderful and my children and husband loved them :)

On my third batch – used all (Vermont Butterworks Farm stoneground red fife) whole wheat flour and they are delicious! First batch consumed in one hour by hordes of hungry children (okay, two) and am making for the actual hordes of nieces and nephews for snacks to hold them over until the big meal tomorrow. Am concurrently making second apple pie (all butter crust) – have it open in another window w your cookbook propped up behind the iPad. Also made the refrigerator cookies (we call it zebra cake). Many thanks!

I made this crackers with light mozzarella cheese. I followed all the steps of the recipe and the dough was too dry, it did not stick together. (Maybe I should take regular cheese.) So, I was forced to add butter. Also, I didn’t make 100 crackers but 40 with a cookie cutter 1.5 inche. Finally, I was surprised but the cookies became soft even if I put in a biscuit tin (metal).

Hi Claudia — Mozzarella does not work the same way that cheddar does in recipes; they are not interchangeable. Adding more butter will also change the recipe from the way it was intended to taste. The cookie cutter size I use might have been unclear; it was a goldfish shape, so while 1.25 inches in length, only about .5 inch high. A 1.5-inch round cutter would indeed get less than half the yield of the one I used.

Hello — tried these and loved how easy they were to make, but mine turned out really greasy. Maybe the cheese I got had an unusually high fat content, but it didn’t seem different from any other cheddar. I blotted the crackers with paper towels, and that helped, but the crackers were still pretty oily. I came back here to see if I’d copied down the recipe correctly, and I had. Not sure what happened.

Deb,
I finally made these and they are impressive. I cannot remember the last time I tried real goldfish crackers but these taste very good. I did not have a fish cutter so I used mini halloween cookie cutters.

I just made these with 100% whole wheat flour that I ground myself. I used a ratio of 2 parts hard white winter wheat, 1 part hard red winter wheat and 1 part spelt. They came out AMAZING!! So excited to have another wonderful whole wheat snack recipe to go to!

These are delicious! I used a combo of regular whole wheat and white whole wheat and it worked perfectly. I found that mine needed 14-15 min on a parchment lined baking sheet and 12 min on an unlined sheet. I’ll definitely make these again.

I personally found that the dough did not form into a ball despite measuring out all of the ingredients to a T. Perhaps it’s because I used Daiya in place of actual cheese or didn’t use the smaller bowl in my food processor, but I hand-formed the ball myself and they turned out great anyway!

Oh, yay. I can add this to my no/low white recipe file. I love goldfish crackers in my homemade tomato soup. Commercial ones are “too white” (as in flour) I think I’ll try the whole wheat and coconut or almond flour. Oooh, now i have to shop some goldfish and maybe heart and diamond cutters. Thanks, Deb, for another fun recipe. p.s., I’ll be sure to share with the neighbors, the little and grown-up kids :D

I made two back to back batches the other day and they were a massive hit with my foodie friends. My second batch was even more tastier and is gluten-free. I’ve read a few of the options in the comments section and I don’t think I saw my combination.

From the original recipe, I swapped the whole wheat flour with Trader Joe’s gluten-free all-purpose flour and the all purpose flour with almond meal. The cracker was crisp, airy with a nutty taste. The fish itself will look a little speckled but it baked perfectly.

Thanks for being amazing and candid, Deb. I knew about you a few years ago but didn’t start cooking with your recipes until 5 months ago. You make cooking fun, fool-proof and most importantly: so tasty. You’re such a huge inspiration and I’ve gained so much more confidence through cooking with you. thank you.

This recipe is awesome! I want to use it in my preschool, but when I tried it it was a little too challenging for the kids to roll out and cut themselves, because the dough was so crumbly. Do you have any ideas for making it easier? Adding a little liquid maybe? It’s ok if it takes away from the texture – it’s so nice and crisp right now, but the kids will still devour them if they’re a little tougher. (Also, we made them with freshly ground wheat berries that the kids ground themselves, and 100% whole wheat definitely works!)

Same question as Becca #539: I also used whole wheat flour all the way, wondering if perhaps that’s why mine were a bit crumbly? (Fine for an adult, but I think my ‘masher hands’ little one will probably crumble them to pieces before they get to his mouth). I also didn’t use a FP, just grated cheese finely. Other than that, I went by the recipe. Any thoughts on how to make the a little more cohesive (a la the original ones) would be welcome. Thanks!

Without a food processor — Grate the cheese very finely and beat it with room temperature butter, add the flour and then chill it before rolling it out. Basically, treat this like a cookie and it should work.

Yes, people in the comments have said they used a pastry blender in a bowl as you would with pie dough and/or a stand mixer with softened butter, giving it a little time to chill and refirm before rolling it.

What’s the best way to prepare these in advance (for a birthday party)? Just store in an airtight container or will they taste better if I freeze them? If I should freeze, is it best to freeze before baking? Thanks!!

Thank you for taking the time to reply! I thought long and hard about it and I’m pretty sure I measured the butter wrong🙈 Such a disaster! I’m going to get more cheese and try again! I want to make some Halloween shapes for my toddler.

Goldfish crackers sprinkeld with sesame seeds were my favourite party snack when I was a kid. Unfortunately I live in Spain now and they don’t sell it here but thanks for you there is hope now! This is going to be the next game night snack!

Omg these were so good. Light, crunchy, delectable and I had to hide them to make them last long enough for DH to have some. Added some oregano, paprika, and a tiny pinch of sugar to enhance the flavour. They really hit the spot thanks!

This comment is a little specialized but it worked REALLY well for me:
I used this recipe with all white flour (oooooh, naughty) and extra onion powder and a mini-gingerbread-man cookie cutter, to make a savory birthday-and-christmas treat for my sister-in-law who does not like sweets and on whom christmas cookies are lost. I pulled them from the oven when they were just golden and they were ok. About an hour later, after they were cool, I biscotti’d them by putting them back in the oven for six minutes until they were nut-brown all through. OHMYGOODNESSSOOOOOOOOAMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With white flour, they need the extra browning I think.

These are awesome :) I used all KA white whole wheat flour. I used 4 oz of xtra xtra sharp yellow cheddar and 2 oz of sriracha gouda – because I had some and we like spicy! Instead of salt and onion powder I used a quarter teaspoon of Penzey’s shallot salt.
I use a small crescent moon cutter. I think I should have re-chilled the dough for the second rollout. The colder batch did not spread as much.

I used the food processor, but my dough did not form a ball at all. Just nice crumbs. I added 3 Tbsp of cold water. Is it really possible to make this without adding water? Different cheddar, maybe? Warmer butter? Curious. (Once they were finished, I ate about half of them while they were cooling.)

Thank you for leaving this comment, the same thing happened with my dough, and your trick worked like a charm. I made them using mini dinosaur cookie cutters, and they turned out so unbelievably tasty!

Made these tonight to take along as a snack on a long drive tomorrow for myself and two traveling companions. Scaled down the recipe to 2/3 of the original as I only had 6 oz of cheddar on hand and used a 2 inch round cookie cutter. Didn’t have any onion powder but upped the salt instead to help the flavor pop. I was barely able to stop myself from eating the entire batch as soon as they cooled a bit, they were so good. Ate a handful and packed the rest away, out of sight; otherwise they will not survive until tomorrow and we will go hungry on our trip :)

LOVE THESE!!! Can’t stop eating them. Struggled with the butter:flour ratio and not letting the dough chill long enough, but lesson learned and will be more patient next time. Thank you for such a tasty snack!

Thanks for the fun recipe! I baked half a batch & have the rest of the dough in the fridge to bake today. The first round of crackers aren’t quite crunchy enough. What did I do wrong? I chilled the dough for a few hours before rolling out and baking (life with a nine month old involves STEPS), and had to go to about 18 min in the oven to get the barely brown color. I rolled out to 1/8 inch thickness. I also had to add 2tbs cold water to get a dough ball in the processor. How can I make this next round appropriately crackery? Or do you think there is something wrong with the dough?

My 3 year-old daughter LOVES these and so do I! We always add about 1-2 tsp nutritional yeast for some extra umami flavor. It’s transformative. Making a triple batch today for her entire preschool! Thanks for this awesome recipe and another way to avoid processed yuckiness.

Just wanted to add that I use the rim of a small container (made as a to-go container for dressing) to form circle crackers, then use the edge of a spoon to shape a mouth, and the tips of chopsticks to make eyes. They are super cute. And tasty.